Every so often, the New York Times parachutes in to give its readers an update on goings-on in California politics. The reason the Tri-States’ newspaper of record reports on California politics has less to do with how interesting it is — in fact, without a movie star serially shooting himself in the foot, our politics tend to be rather drab — it’s because California is one of the few places west of Jersey that people educated in the public schools there have heard of. (Which is not to say they could find it on a map.)
Still, if you’re just tuning in to California governor’s race, this article is a good place to start. The Democratic primary is in about three weeks:
Two fixtures of Democratic politics — Phil Angelides, the state treasurer who made a fortune as a real estate developer, and Steve Westly, the controller who made even more money as an early employee of eBay — are in a battle to take on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, in November.
For each of the Democrats, the challenge is not simply to convince voters that it is time to evict Mr. Schwarzenegger from Sacramento, but that they should return the tutelage of the state to a person with a political résumé not so unlike that of Gray Davis, the humdrum party insider recalled from office in 2003.
For Democrats nationwide, the primary on June 6 is more than another local race. It is a precursor to a critical fight in November, when Democrats are looking to gain offices — including governorships — across the country. Winning back Mr. Schwarzenegger’s job, with the Republican-led recall still stinging, would be a particular achievement.
“Nationally it would be very important to win there,” said Brian Namey, a spokesman for the Democratic Governors Association.
But although Mr. Schwarzenegger’s popularity has plummeted since his early days as governor — his approval rating last month was 39 percent, according to a recent Field Poll — his numbers have begun to rebound. Beating him will be a tough fight for either of the Democratic hopefuls, several political analysts said.
“Sometimes campaigns are wars of attrition, where the approval numbers for the incumbent are low, but his campaign succeeds because the opinion of the opponent ends up being lower,” said Bruce E. Cain, the director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
On the surface, Mr. Westly and Mr. Angelides seem like two versions of the same Democratic Party player. Each has served for many years in the party, with a successful hiatus in the private sector.
They hew to the Democratic center on nearly every social issue, and both have made more access to higher education a centerpiece of their campaigns. Both are from Northern California; most voters hail from the southern part of the state.
Each more or less plays the role of Mr. Rogers to Mr. Schwarzenegger’s governator, making gentle, loving references to their immigrant family members (Mr. Westly’s Chinese-born wife, Mr. Angelides’s “ya-ya,” or Greek grandma), quoting Scripture (Mr. Westly) and being exceedingly nice to schoolchildren (Mr. Angelides).
Both compare themselves to President Bill Clinton, perhaps unsurprising in a state where Mr. Clinton is more popular than almost anywhere else.
